Wednesday, June 30, 2010

I've been semi imprisoned in my house this week, sealed in by plastic tarping and masking tape. The painters are here and the outside appearance of my house is changing as I write. Here are a couple of pictures that give you a glimpse of the changes so far.

The grapevines have filled in a lot since taking the before picture about two months ago so some of the painting of the railings may have to wait until fall. The painters have been doing a great job of painting around trees and flowers, going so far as to wrap up one of the floxglove flowers next to the house to keep it from being splattered.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Above is a new underpainting of another stormy beach you can see the drawing for this painting here. This one's from Hawaii; the Big Island, and you can see the lava shelf formation that justs into the ocean on the left. I wonder if it's due to crashing on the hardened lava that makes the waves particularly loud, or if it's because the lava formations - which can be up to 50 feet in depth, trap and echo the sound. Whatever causes it, the effect is dramatic and thrilling.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

The small painting above is showing some progress, just needing some final layers of glaze, as do some others in the studio. Meanwhile I feel like I've been everywhere this weekend. Saturday I found myself in Orange County to see the "Best" exhibit from Jeffrey Crussell Fine Art, including the work of 40 or so artists hung in an Eichler home. It was interesting seeing artwork in an environment that is closer to the way they might actually be displayed in a personal collection. Sunday I went to the "Studio Visions" exhibit at Linda Jacobson's Center for Art and Spirit in Venice, featuring paintings of the Venice Art Forum group. Also an alternative space, the intimate exhibit of paintings by eight artsists hung in a converted garage behind a private home. Roslyn from the Art, Tiles, and Mosaics Blog was there and took pictures that are now posted on her blog, so have a look.

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

The historically interesting West Adams area of Los Angeles has Craftsman style bungalows, Victorian houses, cottages, and mansions. The West Adams Heritage Association tour on Saturday included 12 diverse locations. As if the architecture alone is not enough of a treat for the eye, each one featured contemporary artwork by local artists. In some cases the homes are owned by the artists represented. In others, the work of a few different artists were collected together. I've included some photos below. The photos are a bit random. Since I'm still nailing down what colors to paint my house I had a tendency to wander off photographing odd bits of trim and sections of homes where all the colors intersected, while missing more obvious photo opportunities. A list of all the artists whose work was displayed on the tour, along with samples of their work, can be found at the WAHA website.

Later on in the afternoon I had the pleasure to meet up with Dianne Poinski while she was in town. I've known Dianne through her blog for the past year of so, and it was a pleasure to meet her in person.

Fine Art Greeting Cards

Books:

From San Diego to Vancouver, 100 Artists of the West Coast II covers 100 artists with over 400 full color photographs of their work. The collection includes art from private as well as public collections and installations, including the collections of LACMA, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art New York, and the New York Public Library to name just a few. I'm happy to be included.